In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Rajan Vichare thanked him for launching the Belapur-Pendhar metro rail line without a formal ceremony and requested him to commission the Digha Gaon railway station.
People living within the limits of the 11 stations on the route were held to ransom due to the inordinate delay in the inauguration of the railway line, Vichare said in its letter. City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) on Thursday said services on metro rail line 1 between Belapur and Pendhar in Navi Mumbai will begin on Friday.
Services on the 11.10-km route were being thrown open to the public on the direction of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde without any official programme, it said. Following the criticism faced by the people of Navi Mumbai and the signature campaign undertaken by the Shiv Sena (UBT), the prime minister did not wait for any formal inauguration and directed the chief minister to start the services after Diwali, Vichare wrote, welcoming the decision.
The MP also urged the prime minister to commission the Digha Gaon station on the Airoli-Kalwa elevated route, which has been ready for the last seven months.